Editing Israel Defense Forces (section)

==Doctrine==

=== IDF Code of Ethics ===
{{Main|IDF Code of Ethics}}
In 1992, the IDF drafted a Code of Conduct that combines international law, Israeli law, Jewish heritage and the IDF's traditional ethical code—the [[IDF Spirit]] ({{langx|he|רוח צה"ל}}, ''Ru'ah Tzahal'').<ref name="idf-spirit">{{cite web|url=http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/about/doctrine/ethics.htm |title=Ethics – The IDF Spirit |publisher=[[IDF Spokesperson's Unit]] |access-date=10 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831080829/http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/about/doctrine/ethics.htm |archive-date=31 August 2009 }}</ref>

The document defines four core values for all IDF soldiers to follow, including "defense of the state, its citizens and its residents", "love of the homeland and loyalty to the country", "human dignity" and "stateliness, as well as ten secondary values.<ref name="idf-spirit" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ahronheim |first1=Anna |title=IDF adds 'stateliness' as fourth military value in code of ethics |url=https://www.jpost.com/israeli-news/article-711884 |access-date=6 November 2022 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 July 2022 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105191903/https://www.jpost.com/israeli-news/article-711884 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ערך היסוד ממלכתיות יתווסף ל'רוח צה"ל' |url=https://www.idf.il/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D/2022/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99/%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%97-%D7%A6%D7%94-%D7%9C-%D7%A6%D7%94%D7%9C-%D7%9E%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%9A-%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%98%D7%9B-%D7%9C/ |website=Israel Defense Forces |access-date=6 November 2022 |language=Hebrew |date=12 July 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009062550/https://www.idf.il/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D/2022/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99/%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%97-%D7%A6%D7%94-%D7%9C-%D7%A6%D7%94%D7%9C-%D7%9E%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%9A-%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%98%D7%9B-%D7%9C// |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Meir Elran |author2=Asa Kasher |title=Stateliness, IDF style |url=https://www.inss.org.il/publication/stateliness/ |publisher=The Institure for National Security Studies |access-date=6 November 2022 |date=2 August 2022 |archive-date=6 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106141206/https://www.inss.org.il/publication/stateliness/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

"The Spirit of the IDF" (cf. supra) is still considered the only binding moral code that formally applies to the IDF troops. In 2009, [[Amos Yadlin]] (then head of [[Military Intelligence]]) suggested that the article he co-authored with [[Asa Kasher]] be ratified as a formal binding code, arguing that "the current code ['The Spirit of the IDF'] does not sufficiently address one of the army's most pressing challenges: [[asymmetric warfare]] against terrorist organizations that operate amid a civilian population".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5394864|title=MI: IDF Needs New Ethics Code for War on Terror|date=30 September 2009|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516165000/https://www.haaretz.com/1.5394864|url-status=live}}</ref>

Details of the IDF's [[rules of engagement]] remain classified.<ref name="nyt-rabin-24">{{cite news |last1=Rabin |first1=Roni Caryn |title=Israelis Question Army's Rules of Engagement After Hostages Slain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-rules-of-engagement-hostages.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 4, 2024 |quote=The details of the rules of engagement — the conditions under which soldiers are permitted to open fire — are classified because publicizing them would enable enemy forces to take advantage of them, said Mr.{{nbsp}}Dinar, adding that they were consistent with international law.}}</ref>

===Targeted killing===
{{main|Targeted killing by Israel}}
Targeted killing, targeted prevention<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://elyon1.court.gov.il/Files/02/690/007/a34/02007690.a34.HTM |title=בג"ץ 769/02 |language=he |access-date=5 February 2016 |archive-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030011111/http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/02/690/007/a34/02007690.a34.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRuiNWNj_yEC&q=targeted+prevention+israel&pg=PA11 |title=Targeted Killings and International Law |author=Roland Otto |isbn=9783642248580 |date=2011-12-01 |publisher=Springer |access-date=13 October 2023 |archive-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129230220/https://books.google.com/books?id=gRuiNWNj_yEC&q=targeted+prevention+israel&pg=PA11#v=snippet&q=targeted%20prevention%20israel&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> or assassination<ref name=Gross>{{cite journal |title=Assassination and Targeted Killing: Law Enforcement, Execution or Self-Defence? |first=Michael |last=Gross |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2006.00347.x |doi=10.1111/j.1468-5930.2006.00347.x |journal=Journal of Applied Philosophy |volume=23 |issue=3 |date=August 2006 |pages=323–335 |access-date=13 October 2023 |archive-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129230120/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2006.00347.x |url-status=live | issn = 0264-3758}}</ref> is a tactic that has been repeatedly used by the IDF and other Israeli organisations in the course of the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], the [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict]] or other conflicts.<ref name=Gross/>

In 2005, [[Asa Kasher]] and [[Amos Yadlin]] co-authored a noticed article published in the ''Journal of Military Ethics'' under the title: "Military Ethics of Fighting Terror: An Israeli Perspective". The article was meant as an "extension of the classical Just War Theory", and as a "[needed] third model" or missing paradigm besides which of "classical war (army) and law enforcement (police).", resulting in a "doctrine (...) on the background of the IDF fight against acts and activities of terror performed by Palestinian individuals and organizations."<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1080/15027570510014642| title = Military Ethics of Fighting Terror: An Israeli Perspective (abstract)| date = April 2005| last1 = Kasher | first1 = A. | last2 = Yadlin | first2 = A. | journal = Journal of Military Ethics| volume = 4| issue = 1| pages = 3–32| s2cid = 144060204}}</ref>

In this article, Kasher and Yadlin concluded that [[targeted killing]]s of terrorists were justifiable, even at the cost of hitting nearby civilians. In a 2009 interview to ''[[Haaretz]]'', Asa Kasher later confirmed, pointing to the fact that in an area in which the IDF does not have effective security control (e.g., Gaza, vs. East-Jerusalem), soldiers' lives protection takes priority over avoiding injury to enemy civilians.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-philosopher-who-gave-the-idf-moral-justification-in-gaza-1.269527|title=The Philosopher Who Gave the IDF Moral Justification in Gaza|work=Haaretz.com|access-date=8 March 2016|archive-date=29 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029095058/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-philosopher-who-gave-the-idf-moral-justification-in-gaza-1.269527|url-status=live}}</ref> Some, along with [[Avishai Margalit]] and [[Michael Walzer]], have disputed this argument, arguing that such a position was "contrary to centuries of theorizing about the morality of war as well as international humanitarian law",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=10705&jid=1&href=fulltext|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103123507/http://www.palestine-studies.org/journals.aspx?id=10705&jid=1&href=fulltext|url-status=dead|title=Khalidi,''The Most Moral Army in the World?'', Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol 39, no. 3 (Spring 2010), p. 6|archive-date=3 November 2011}}</ref> since drawing "a sharp line between combatants and noncombatants" would be "the only morally relevant distinction that all those involved in a war can agree on."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/05/14/israel-civilians-combatants/|title=Israel: Civilians & Combatants|first1=Michael|last1=Walzer|first2=Avishai|last2=Margalit|journal=The New York Review of Books |date=14 May 2009|volume=56 |issue=8 |via=www.nybooks.com|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=16 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616053634/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/05/14/israel-civilians-combatants/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Hannibal Directive===
{{main|Hannibal Directive}}
The Hannibal Directive is a controversial procedure that the IDF has used to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. It was introduced in 1986, after some abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and the subsequent controversial prisoner exchanges. The full text of the directive has never been published and until 2003 [[Censorship in Israel|Israeli military censorship]] even forbade any discussion of the subject in the press. The directive has been changed several times. At one time the formulation was that "the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces."<ref name=Weiz>{{cite book|title=Forensic Architecture, VIOLENCE AT THE THRESHOLD OF DETECTABILITY |year=2017 |url= |author=Weizman, Eyal |isbn=9781935408864 |publisher=Zone Books |location=New York}}, page 176.</ref>

The Hannibal directive has, at times,  apparently existed in two different versions, one top-secret written version, accessible only to the upper echelon of the IDF, and one "oral law" version for division commanders and lower levels. In the latter versions, "by all means" was often interpreted literally, as in "an IDF soldier was better dead than abducted". In 2011, IDF Chief of Staff [[Benny Gantz]] stated the directive does not permit the killing of IDF soldiers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Haaretz, Chief of Staff to Military Commanders: Hannibal Directive Does Not Permit Killing of Soldiers to Prevent Abduction|year=2011|author=Amos Harel|url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2011-11-01/ty-article/0000017f-ed21-d0f7-a9ff-efe591e30000|access-date=13 October 2023|archive-date=22 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222151328/https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2011-11-01/ty-article/0000017f-ed21-d0f7-a9ff-efe591e30000|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dahiya doctrine===
{{main|Dahiya doctrine}}
The Dahiya doctrine<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1198 |title=From War to Deterrence? Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Since 2006 |access-date=12 January 2015 |archive-date=12 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112235445/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1198 |url-status=dead }}</ref> is a military strategy of [[asymmetric warfare]], outlined by former IDF Chief of General Staff [[Gadi Eizenkot]], which encompasses the use of aerial and artillery fire against civilian infrastructure used by terrorist organizations<ref name=Byman>'the threat to destroy the civilian infrastructure of hostile regimes, as Israel did to the Dahiya neighbourhood of Beirut, where Hizbollah was headquartered in 2006'  Daniel Byman , [https://archive.org/details/highpricetriumph0000byma/page/364 ''A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism''], Oxford University Press, 2011 p.364</ref> and endorses the employment of "disproportionate power" to secure that end.<ref name=harelEisenkot>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-idf-plans-to-use-disproportionate-force-in-next-war-1.254954|title=ANALYSIS / IDF plans to use disproportionate force in next war|work=Haaretz|author=Amos Harel|date=5 October 2008|access-date=3 October 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006212036/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-idf-plans-to-use-disproportionate-force-in-next-war-1.254954|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="FinallyRealizes">[http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3605863,00.html "The Dahya Strategy: Israel finally realizes that Arabs should be accountable for their leaders’ acts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224014903/http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3605863,00.html |date=24 December 2011 }} The Dahya strategy, according to IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkot. Interview in Yedioth Ahronoth. 10.06.08.</ref> The doctrine is named after the [[Dahieh]] neighborhood of Beirut, where [[Hezbollah]] was headquartered during the [[2006 Lebanon War]], which were heavily damaged by the IDF.<ref name=Byman />